DoPT issues reminder as most ministries fail to file travel information

NEW DELHI: A majority of central ministries and departments have failed to comply with an eight-month-old directive to suo motu disclose details of foreign and domestic tours of ministers and senior bureaucrats, prompting the Department of Personnel and Training ( DoPT) to issue a reminder.

In a letter on December 10, the DoPT reminded the ministries that its earlier order issued on April 15 had fixed a six-month deadline for tour details of ministers and bureaucrats to be put into public domain as per provisions of suo motu disclosure under Section 4 of the RTI Act.

A check done by ET showed that only the DoPT, the PMO and the urban development ministry had disclosed these details on their websites.

The ministries of external affairs, environment, human resource development, law, road transport and highways, civil aviation, health and railways are among those that have failed to comply with the directive.

A large number of RTI queries were being filed on official tours undertaken by ministers and officials.